Alan Kennedy-Shaffer, a candidate for Dauphin County Democratic Committee chair, claims he was wrongfully terminated from his job as assistant counsel for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board and he plans to take legal action.

Kennedy-Shaffer, a first lieutenant in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, said his military service was the "motivating factor in the termination."

"On advice of counsel, I'm not at liberty to comment further on the illegality of the termination," Kennedy-Shaffer said.

In an interview with PennLive, Kennedy-Shaffer clarified the primary factor for his termination was his military service. His community and political activity were secondary factors, he said.

Kennedy-Shaffer's nearly three-year tenure with the PLCB hasn't been a smooth one. He has successfully appealed rulings from the PLCB concerning his work with Harrisburg Hope, a grassroots good government organization he founded, and a column on the state's liquor laws with a trade publication.

Stacy Kriedeman, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, said the PLCB on April 30 terminated Kennedy-Shaffer, who had been with the agency since September 2011. The board then approved his termination May 14.

"The PLCB has many employees who serve in the military and we support and respect their service. There are also many employees of the PCLB who serve in community groups and are politically active under the terms of the Commonwealth's Management Directives," Kriedeman said. "That being said, we will not discuss Mr. Shaffer's claim as we cannot discuss specific personnel issues at all. However, we will vigorously defend our decision should a lawsuit be filed."

Kennedy-Shaffer confirmed he planned to take legal action, but he wouldn't comment further, citing advice of counsel.

"On advice of counsel, I cannot comment on pending or future legal matters or what that might entail," he said.

Kennedy-Shaffer and Cole Davis Goodman, his campaign manager in his run for the Dauphin County Democratic Committee chair, both said they had concerns that Kennedy-Shaffer's termination was being brought up a matter of days before the June 11 county Democratic Committee chair election.

"I do have concerns about why this is coming up now," Kennedy-Shaffer said. "This kind of dirty politics is why I am ... running for chairman of the Dauphin County Democratic Party."

Goodman wouldn't list any names, but he said Kennedy-Shaffer's termination was being brought up by his opponents as an attempt to "undermine his campaign."

"We want to stress that these are outrageous attacks," Goodman said. "Alan has emerged as the frontrunner for chairman of the Dauphin County Democratic Party and this is an attempt by his opponents to undermine his campaign."

Those running against Kennedy-Shaffer in the race for chairperson — incumbent Dauphin County Committee Chairwoman Marilyn Levin and Rogette Harris, political vice chairwoman for the county committee and PennLive/Patriot-News Community Columnist — didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

It took Kennedy-Shaffer less than a month to land his current job as a researcher with the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Democratic Caucus. Kennedy-Shaffer said he started that job in late May but wouldn't comment further on his hiring or current employment as he didn't want to jeopardize his job.

However, Kennedy-Shaffer, reportedly was prepared to do just that nearly two years ago when the PLCB demanded he relinquish all involvement with his grassroots organization Harrisburg Hope. The agency claimed the organization promoted a political purpose and, therefore, his role with it violated the governor's code of conduct.

Last year, Kennedy-Shaffer took on the PLCB again concerning a column on the state's liquor laws for The Legal Intelligencer. The PLCB denied Kennedy-Shaffer approval to write the column, but the Office of Administration ultimately allowed him to proceed with his writing — as long as he followed 12 conditions, according to reports from the Pennsylvania Independent.

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